That's Real Love
by MeganMarie
Summary: A DracoPansy fan fiction. Just life after Hogwarts, a fiction about the DracoPansy marriage and family, how they got along after Voldemort was over and done with.
1. Chapter 1

_OK, this is kind of the opposite of my Ron/Hermione story, meaning, it's Draco/Pansy. Normally, I hate Slytherin's, but I thought the pairing to tempting to refuse to write a story about them. I hope you enjoy!_  
  
"Oh Draco, it's beautiful!" Pansy said as she fingered the diamond necklace as Draco tenderly clasped it around her pale neck. In her mind Pansy was viewing the faces of all the other girls, and their jealousy. Draco always gave her such nice things, and none of the other witches where she lived got as nice of things as she did.  
  
"You really thing so, darling?" Draco said smoothly and kissed her neck.  
  
"It's perfect." she said, and faced him. Draco's usual cold glare was never used on Pansy, no, a different, fake, side of Draco appeared when she came into the room, a softer, more loving side. Of course, Pansy knew this was fake also, but she didn't want to spoil Draco's fun, and it was nice having a boy be so wonderful to her.  
  
"We must get going then, the carriage is outside, the driver's been made to wait longer than he should have." Draco often stated the obvious around Pansy, sometimes acting as if she were an imbicile.  
  
"Alright, just let me finish my hair." she said. Pansy took out her wand and faced a large, mahogany-framed mirror, a very expensive item no doubt, and muttered a few charms. Her dull, black, face-distorting hair turned into long, beautiful, flowing, silky hair. She was a sight for sore eyes, and it was obvious that she would make Draco proud tonight.  
  
"And who all is to be there, tonight, Draco?" Pansy asked. She hadn't heard anything about the Ministry Party until about a week ago, and of course, she only expected an invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Draco Malfoy, but had forgotten the aspect of certain _other_ invitees.  
  
"No one worth talking to, or even looking at, really." Draco sighed. "Ministry has gone to the dogs. Honestly, with that Arthur Weasley in charge of things now, and such idiots as Potter and Weasley as Auror's, you'd think that the government would fall apart in days." he opened the door for Pansy and she stepped lightly in. The carriage was warm and cozy.  
  
"Full of mud bloods?" Pansy asked. The term had become quite a casual word around the Malfoy home. She knew it was disrespectful, but since when did any of the muggle borns earn the respect of the pure bloods?  
  
"Yes, quite. The only ounce of respectability that the Weasley's deserve is in their pure blood, which is so dirtied by their actions, I expect they're less than half now. And they are spreading, I heard that Ron and Hermione are having a child."  
  
"Oh really?" Pansy took in much more interest now. Gossip was her special area, spreading and hearing. She knew nearly everything about everyone, including the undeserving mud bloods. "How long have you known this?"  
  
"For a month now. I wasn't quite sure, but last I saw her she had put on a few pounds."  
  
"What do you mean by a few?" Pansy was determined. Hermione had always looked better than her at every party or ball that they both had attended, and she longed to be the bell of whatever ball she could be in place of Hermione.  
  
"About, ten or twenty. Fairly normal for a pregnant woman, isn't it?"  
  
"Oh yes, yes it is." Pansy grinned inwardly. There was no way a fat pregnant woman could beat her beauty. If Pansy really had any beauty in the first place. "And what of our other friends? Blaise Zabini? How has he been?"  
  
"Actually, I was about to ask you. He barely got free, after his trial I mean. They nearly caught him. They caught many of the Deatheaters. Potter, mostly." Draco growled when he said Harry's name. The grudge and hatred between Potter and Malfoy had never lifted, and it never would. Draco had tried on many occasions before to kill Potter, but none had worked out how he planned. This had caused much anger from the Dark Lord, who's even legend had faded now.  
  
"Well, Millicent is doing fine, I just got an owl from her. She says that she and that Nott child are expecting a baby."  
  
"Child? My dear Pansy, it was nearly five years ago we graduated from Hogwarts and you are still using those terms?"  
  
"I can't seem to get it out of my system." she couldn't. Once an insulting, devious, self centered woman, always an insulting, devious, self centered woman.  
  
"Perhaps Blaise will be there tonight." Draco said hopefully after a long pause.   
  
"Perhaps," Pansy said almost distantly. Blaise had always been a good friend to her, but once he had become a Deatheater what little good was left of him was gone. Of course, she had been a Deatheater along side him, but he seemed to think that everyone was the enemy now.  
  
"Ah, here we are," Draco said as the carriage pulled up to the phone booth. "Sorry, it is a tight squeeze," and Draco led Pansy into the phone boothe, awaiting the woman's voice, to let them into the annual Ministry of Magic Ball. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," Arthur Weasley said and extended his hand out for Draco to shake. Draco simply stared at him menacingly and continued on.  
  
"Now Draco, is that anyway to act towards the Minister?"  
  
"I don't want their filthy hands touching mine. They probably carry some muggle disease from one of Arthur's ridiculous muggle-object experiments."  
  
Pansy agreed with him, but inwardly felt that they should show some respect to him, after all, he is the Minister of Magic. They didn't treat Fudge that way, and Fudge was a complete idiot.  
  
Pansy did look beautiful that night, which was a stretch for her. She always was well intuned with the fashions of the wizarding world, but she rarely ever pulled any of the looks off. She had no curves to complement any dresses, and her hair was too short and cropped to make fancy or frame her face nicely.  
  
But tonight was different. She wore a long silver dress, that shone brightly throughout the whole ballroom. The charm she had used earlier had grown her hair down to her shoulders, and looked ravishing once she had put it up into a fancy bun, held up with two silver pins. Her black hair and silver dress made her green eyes stand out more than anything, possibly even brighter than Harry Potter's, she told herself. Of course they weren't, but she enjoyed thinking that she was better than someone.  
  
Pansy had been scanning the whole area looking for Hermione Weasley, so she and Draco could casually graze past them and have Hermione look on at Pansy in horror as she realized she was no longer the beauty of the Ministry. But the more she looked, the hope of finding Hermione lessened until it became a nothing. But Pansy spotted Harry Potter amongst the crowd of happy, partying wizards and left Draco to confront him.  
  
"Hello Harry," she said in as superior of a voice she could.  
  
"Hello Pansy." Harry said, smiling brightly. Probably to make me angry, she thought.  
  
"Have you seen Hermione, or Ron?" Harry looked at her confused as to why she would be looking for two people she hated. But he sighed and said:  
  
"She's having her baby."  
  
"But Draco said she had only been pregnant for a month!"  
  
"I only knew about her pregnance for a month." Draco had joined them. The statement had startled Pansy at first, mostly because she didn't know that Draco had been standing there, but also because he hadn't given her anymore detail other than that he had only known for a month.  
  
"Honestly, Pansy, you must learn to listen." he smiled at Pansy and turned to Harry. "So, Potter, flying alone tonight? No date?"  
  
"Oh, she's getting a drink." Harry said coolly and motioned towards the table. There stood Ginny Weasley, coming towards the three with two glasses of red punch.  
  
"Honestly, a Weasley Potter? Even I knew you could do better. Whatever happened to Cho Chang?" Draco tried to be menacing to the two, but it only came off as annoying.  
  
"Cho, is engaged to," Ginny pondered for a moment. "I think Michael Corner, I could be wrong though."  
  
"Michael Corner, you dated him, right?" Pansy asked. They were obviously trying to get the two very angry, but weren't succeeding. The Michael Corner incident had happened about 8 years ago, and Ginny never even thought about him after 4th year. Of course, she had Dean Thomas her whole 5th year of Hogwarts there to comfort her when she did think about him.  
  
"Yeah, I did. A waste of time really, I feel bad Cho." Ginny and Harry laughed. Pansy and Draco only let out a weak smile.  
  
"Well, enough time here, don't you think, darling?" Draco said, offering his arm. He and Pansy left Ginny and Harry, and walked in bitter defeat towards a table, with only two people sitting at it. Draco recognized one as Blaise, but the other he did not know.  
  
"Blaise! Old friend!" Draco said as he and Blaise embraced each other. "It's been to long." They both took their seats and began a conversation about what they had been doing after the Deatheater times. After the Dark Lord had been defeated.  
  
"The Ministry has been on my back ever since I was proclaimed innocent from that trial. Good I wasn't going to Azkaban, eh? But the Ministry did make me help gather all the Dementors. That wasn't an easy, or fun job." this last remark was said with sarcasm, and Draco knew some of Blaise's pain. Since Draco himself had only been a benefactor and not full on Deatheater, he had not been sentenced or trialed.  
  
"It's horrible, what they've done to some of the people."  
  
"Yeah, I hear that Crabbe got sent to Azkaban?"  
  
That memory was not as painful as most would have thought for Draco. Crabbe had only been a minion to Draco, not a friend. He hadn't really had any friends, but still, some might have thought that the loss of a minion would be devastating to Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Yes, he did."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
"Murder of two wizards and three muggles. They gave him a life sentence, though he did get out of the Dementor's kiss, but that will only last him for a while."  
  
"It's hard, seeing our friends go the way they did."  
  
"Tell me about it." 


	3. Chapter 3

_Yes, I know, pathetically short. These aren't really chapters, more of, inserts in the disguise of chapters. Hope you like this one. It's a bit pointless, but very character forming for Pansy._

It had been nearly a week since the Ministry's ball, and things had begun to settle down. The Weasley's had introduced Harry Weasley to the world, and were most likely still busy making another Weasley child. Pansy and Draco had both thought the name tacky and unoriginal, naming a child after a good friend or relative. Draco had especially hated it. "Oh good, another Weasley with that idiots name." He had been saying.  
  
Pansy had been setting the breakfast table, Draco sitting at the head of it, reading the Daily Prophet, when a small, brown owl came hurling into the room. It crashed into Draco's plate and then turned to Pansy, holding a letter of yellow parchment with black ink on it. The writing was fancy and organized, she could only assume who it was from. She took the letter from the owl's beak and sent him on his way.  
  
Pansy nearly rolled her eyes and sighed with exasperation as she opened the letter:  
  
_Dear Pansy and Draco,  
  
I know it does seem very strange to be inviting you over like this, and believe me, Ron did protest the idea at first, but I was wondering if you would like to join my husband and I for a cup or two of tea at our house, to talk things over, and perhaps for Pansy to meet the baby? It would give me really great pleasure if you did, Ron and I are very excited about Harry, and he is really a good child. Hoping you the best of days,  
  
Hermione Weasley_  
  
Pansy closed the letter and relayed the news to Draco almost sadly. She knew that Draco would deny the invitation, but she wanted so bad to see the child, for she had none of her own. Draco had decided that he wasn't quite ready for that yet, but Pansy really was. She wanted nothing more than to have her own little boy.  
  
"Do you want to go?" Draco asked her. Pansy was surprised by the question, Draco generally made all the decisions and left no room for her to put in her thoughts.  
  
"Well, I would like to see the baby."  
  
"Then write back a letter saying we will be over on Friday, I have a lot of work to do this week." he said all of this from behind the newspaper. No annoyance was in his voice, in fact, it sounded like he wanted to go, which was a good thing. They needed to socialize with more than just their old Slytherin friends.  
  
Pansy left to the study and found a spare peice of parchment and wrote on it:  
  
_Hermione,  
  
Draco and I would love to be there. Friday is the only day that will work for us, I hope it won't be to much trouble for you. Thank you for the invite!  
  
Pansy_  
  
She wrote it in as sweet of a voice she could muster, which wasn't to hard. She was always good at faking emotions. She wouldn't go to talk to that mudblood and her rag tag husband. She was there to see a child, a child that was not her own but would hopefully be an image of her future. She didn't know how she would bring along the topic of children with Draco.  
  
"I'll see you at six tonight," Draco said as Pansy took a seat at the table. He stood behind her and leaned down to kiss her on the neck. "and there is something I really want to talk to you about, too." Pansy smiled and mouthed the words: OK. Draco left the manor and apparated to work.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco and Ron had gotten off badly, from when the Malfoys had entered the Weasley home to when they had left. Both Pansy and Hermione had tried to play the role of the peace keeper, but only ended up getting rejected by their husbands. On multiple occasions Ron had questioned Hermione why they had invited the Malfoys over, and Draco had questioned Pansy as to why she had accepted the invitation. Throughout all the arguing and fighting, the bonds between Hermione and Pansy seemed to have strengthened. She was one mudblood worthy of respect.  
  
"You didn't have to be so rude, Draco. Hermione was just trying to be friendly." Pansy had said once they had reached home.  
  
"And since when did we need the friendship of a mudblood and her husband?" Draco replied angrily and went up to his study.  
  
Pansy sat at the dinner table with her head in her hands and reflected on the events of the day. One argument stood out in particularly. She and Hermione had been talking about little Harry, and Pansy had been allowed to hold him, which Hermione was glad to let her do. The baby in her arms had felt so right, and it was all Pansy could do to keep from running away with the child still in her arms.  
  
But alas, from the other room the shouting, or at least, the voices of the men trying to restrain their cries, about the stupidest things. Their petty fights seemed to be increasing the older they got. This time Draco had started it, by wondering aloud why Pansy and Draco were even here, sharing a room with a mudblood and of course, her husband. It was phrase he used often.  
  
Ron had retaliated by saying he hadn't known why Hermione would invite the most disrespectable wizard and witch in the whole wizarding world to their home. This had offended Draco and he had said:  
  
"At least my fortune wasn't given to me by my jokes of brothers."  
  
"Yes, you're right." Ron paused and Draco did too, in satisfaction that he had supposedly won the fight. "You got yours from your father!" and that had started another small war. So while Hermione and Pansy tried to ignore the shouts in the other room, they both tenderly held and played with Harry, who's flaming red hair was already as thick and abundant as Hermione's.  
  
"He really is beautiful," Pansy had stated more than once. Hermione glowed everytime she said it, a feeling of pride that was much more abundant in her than the pride of good marks on a final.  
  
"He is." Hermione smiled and stroked the baby's hair. "And what about you and Draco? Are you considering children?"  
  
"I would like to have some, yes, but Draco objects." Hermione frowned when Pansy said this. "It's only right, though, we are very busy right now. He's at work almost every day, long hours. I don't want to have the child not have a father for the first years of his life. When things settle down at the Ministry, then it will all be better."  
  
The conversation had been played over and over in Pansy's mind throughout the day. Throughout the weekend, and throughout the following week. Draco had never confronted her on what he was going to talk to her about last week. She wondered if he was avoiding the subject, or if he had just forgotten. In any case, she didn't want to be the one to bring it up again. Draco preferred to lead all aspects of their marriage.  
  
"Pansy, will you come here for a moment?" Draco called from the lounge. Pansy left her usual spot at the kitchen table and joined Draco, who set aside a large leather bound book, which Pansy didn't quite catch the name of. "I have to talk to you about something, something I have been putting off for quite some time. I told you about it last week, but after that venture to the Weasley's, I decided to put it off."  
  
Pansy nodded and didn't say a word. She let Draco do the talking, as he wanted to.  
  
"I know what you want, and that is children. I haven't wanted them for a while because I have been very busy, and the thought of the possibility of having to stay up all night and look after a child is draining in itself and I don't want to go through that. But, I've decided it is not about me, but it is about us. And if you are willing to try, I think that we should start trying to have a child."  
  
Pansy's stomach was filled with butterflies. She felt ecstatic, jubilant, no words could quite describe it. Draco had been taking on such a different form, marriage had suited him well. He could obviously tell the joy within Pansy and smiled back at her. Giving her a soft peck of a kiss on the cheek, he headed for the bathroom.  
  
"I'll be in bed in five minutes, I hope you'll join me?" 


	5. Chapter 5

_The inspirations come in spurts, so I apologize for the short chapters. I'll try and make this one longer than normal. Thanks for all the reviews, by the way! You guys have really encouraged me to write more._  
  
Pansy was lying next to a sleeping Draco when she looked over at the grandfather clock. It read, 2:00 AM. She hadn't been able to sleep after the nights.... festivities. She had been lying there awake, remembering old times at Hogwarts, when she first met Draco, and when she realized that she had a crush on him. The time when he asked her to the Yule Ball, only for her to be shown up by Hermione (Granger, at the time).  
  
She settled on the memory when she first realized she had a crush on him. She had been thinking over why she was in love with this man, when so many others hated him. The strange thing is, the reasons that people hate him are the reasons that Pansy loved him. She didn't see the hatred towards mudbloods and half bloods as snobbish, she saw it as passion. Draco was filled with passion, from the tiniest things to the largest situations.  
  
It was his hatred towards Harry Potter that had first attracted her. Of course, the boy was hated by all Slytherins (naturally), but something about the loathing between Draco and Harry had shown a new light on Draco to Pansy. Their parents had always been good friends, their whole families had. It was rare to have a pure blood family, and the Malfoy's was one of the few that the Parkinson's dare socialize with. She had only seen Draco on few occasions, and at those times, he had always given off a sense that he was superior to the world around him.  
  
This was another thing that attracted Pansy. She found later on at Hogwarts, that you couldn't find a man who fully expressed his superiority over women. Slytherin was a good source for those types of men, but still, the quantity of the superior-feelings were not at large within them, and Pansy had wasted many trips to Hogsmeade and afternoon walks on the kind of men, no, boys, that felt that they weren't better than Pansy. She always thought that she should be deserving of a man, not a man deserving of her.  
  
Draco had shared those feelings. When he asked Pansy to the ball, it had been because he knew he would get a definite yes. The girl practically worshipped him, which was what he wanted. So many Slytherin girls were independant and self-relying, thinking that they didn't need a man to complete them, that they could make it on their own. And any other girl from any other house was out of the question. He didn't want to be seen in public (especially infront of his father), with a girl from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, and definetley not Gryffindor.  
  
Pansy had been the perfect girl, the perfect mate, as Draco would say. She was willing to give everything to him, and always considered herself the undeserving one. She wasn't bad looking, but she wasn't beautiful. This had been a major disappointment on Draco's half, but it didn't let it bother him. It wasn't as though he was that fetching, himself. Pansy was a perfect, and pale, match for him.  
  
Draco turned over to Pansy and laid on his side.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, as if there were someone else in the manor that could be woken up.  
  
"You." Pansy said truthfully.  
  
"I was thinking about you, too." he smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "What about me?"  
  
"I don't know, just old memories."  
  
"Me too. Do you remember the Yule Ball?"  
  
"Yes. You refused to dance with me that night." she said, almost angrily. Draco had never been a good dancer, and he certainly didn't want his first time to be infront of all the students at Hogwarts. He didn't reply, though. He didn't feel he needed to apologize. Pansy had seen this coming, and didn't mind at all.  
  
"Will you ever dance with me?" she asked hopefully. She had turned her head from looking at the ceiling to Draco's sleepy face.  
  
"Possibly." he said unsurely. Pansy exhaled in satisfaction. The hope of a dance from Mr. Draco Malfoy hung in the air, and tomorrow would be a beautiful day. Draco did have his work, but being alone wouldn't be horrible. Perhaps she could contact Millicent.  
  
"Did you ever have a crush," Draco said suddenly while Pansy was in the middle of her thoughts, "on any of the boys that you dated, or, went on dates with back at school?"  
  
"Not really, I guess I just wanted to find the right one."  
  
"The right boy?"  
  
"Yes," she said, and there was a silence for about a minute, but she added, "but I found the right man, instead."  
  
"The right man?"  
  
"I never did see you as a boy, Draco. You were too," she searched for the right word, "superior. I had always had a small thing for Blaise, though. But he never fell through my expectations."  
  
"And I did?"  
  
"Did you ever." she said. She held his face with her hands and then kissed him one last night kiss and pulled away.  
  
Draco smiled and closed his eyes. His breathing pattern changed, which told Pansy that he had fallen back asleep. And for some reason, she felt content enough to fall asleep to. The image of Draco's face became fuzzier and fuzzier, until she fell into a dreamless sleep.  
  
The next day was not as romantic or sweet. Pansy had all intentions to owl Millicent, and check up on her, see how she was doing, maybe if she wanted to go have a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, but Draco had decided to take the day off and spend it with Blaise instead, and it turned out Millicent was on vacation.  
  
"Tell me, Draco, where do you two go when you spend the day together?" she asked, grabbing Draco's jacket and helped him put it on as he took a last sip of coffee. He turned around and put his coffee on the table. He placed his hands on Pansy's hips and said:  
  
"No honestly, Pansy, you aren't suggesting that you don't trust Blaise and I?" he kissed her neck and she giggled with delight.  
  
"Oh, I trust you, it's just, I thought you would love to spend the day with me, instead." she said this between giggles and then pushed him off.  
  
"Go on, you'll be late to meet your friend."  
  
"I'll be back around three," he said, and gave her a good-bye kiss. "don't do anything exciting without me."  
  
Once Draco had left, Pansy had found it very hard to make things exciting around the house. She had probably cleaned the kitchen twice (with her hands, magic took to short a time to keep her busy), when she heard a knock on the door. Her soapy hands dripped on the tile of the kitchen floor for about five seconds before she reached a dish rag. She took off her apron and then quickly walked to and opened the door.  
  
Hermione Weasleyr stood there, baby Harry in her arms. Behind her was Ginny Weasley. Pansy sighed in her head, she had been hoping it would be some old Slytherin friend, not these two.  
  
"Hello Pansy, sorry for dropping in like this, but Ron is at work and,"  
  
"Oh, no worries, Hermione!" Pansy said and ushered them in. "I had nothing to do anyway." she closed the door. What would Draco say if he knew these two had been here? But still, she wanted desperately to hold the child.  
  
"Yes, we knew you were alone. Harry and Ron had told us that they saw Blaise and Draco at the Leaky Cauldron, discussing things."  
  
"So that's where they went." Pansy said and smiled.  
  
"You mean he didn't tell you where he was going?" Ginny asked surprised.  
  
"He never does." Pansy informed them. The other two girls didn't say anything else on the subject.  
  
"How are things going with you and Harry, Ginny?" Pansy said to break the awkward silence. The truth was, she could care less, but she may as well make some conversation.  
  
"Very well, he asked me out on a few more dates after the Ministry's ball, and those have been really fun." after she said this, the awkward silence came back, but was broken by an odd sound from Harry, who had been lying there, motionless and asleep for quite sometime.  
  
The rest of the afternoon went by terribly slowly for Pansy. She had wished nothing more for the two to leave so she could get back to the kitchen cleaning, when finally, three o'clock rolled around and Draco and Blaise entered the manor. Pansy gave a sigh of relief inwardly, and after a few hasty good-byes, the two Weasley girls were gone. Pansy dramatically wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and said in a sarcastic voice:  
  
"You saved me!"  
  
"Were they giving you a hard time?"  
  
"No, but it was terribly boring." she said. Draco and Blaise looked at each other and smiled. "What have you two been doing all day?"  
  
"I wouldn't say all day, more of, afternoon." Blaise replied smartly.  
  
"Don't you use that tone of voice with me," Pansy said almost threateningly.  
  
"What did I tell you?" Draco laughed and turned to Blaise. "She is ready for motherhood." 


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a week and Draco's absence around the manor had been driving Pansy insane. He had been spending more time with Blaise than with his own wife. She had been reconsidering her marriage to the blonde jerk, who seemed to care about nobody but himself. But she stopped herself while she was in the middle of these thoughts and considered the consequences of divorce.  
  
Draco, on the other hand, had been enjoying himself thoroughly. He had been eating and drinking with Blaise nearly every afternoon at either the Three Broomsticks or the Leaky Cauldron, whichever was more convenient at the time. Blaise and Draco had been talking a lot about the old days, about the glory days, and about women.  
  
"So when are you planning on leaving Pansy?" Blaise inquired. "You said you were nearly a month ago."  
  
"I can't find the right time. She's so excited about all of this baby business, that I can't seem to get a word in." Draco took a sip of his butterbeer. "Maybe I should just leave one night and write a note, and just lay it on the pillow."  
  
"That would be taking the easy way out."  
  
"Since when did I ever take the hard way out?" Draco and Blaise laughed and clanked their mugs together. It had been like old times at the Three Broomsticks, but it was all so horrible now. Draco was tied down with a wife, and his visits with other women weren't working out as well as he had hoped. Saying that he had work was a good cover up, but of course, Pansy would believe anything.  
  
"You know who's really taken form these days?" Blaise asked and leaned back in the wooden chair.  
  
"Who's that?" Draco didn't have any interest, but it was better than not talking. Of course, Blaise and he could make any topic interesting.  
  
"Ginny Weasley. My my, she has developed." Blaise seemed to trail off into his own little world. His grip on the mug loosened and he leaned back further in his chair until it looked as if he were about to fall. Draco grabbed the open space between his legs and pulled the chair back down.  
  
"Don't get to excited, Blaise," Draco took a swig from his butterbeer, "she and Potter are dating."  
  
"We could fix that," Blaise said and fingered his wand jokingly. He and Draco laughed and clanked their mugs together again.  
  
"To women," Draco started. "may we find the right one,"  
  
"but not be tied down by them." Blaise finished. He and Draco hit their mugs together one last time, and in one gulp finished their butterbeers. Blaise whiped off the residue of the drink from above his upper lip and grinned. "I do feel sorry for Pansy, though."  
  
"It will be a blow to her, won't it?"  
  
"That girl practically worships you."  
  
Draco went back to the manor alone, Blaise needed to go home and sleep. Going out with Blaise was a relaxing time for Draco, where he wasn't bothered by Pansy, or the thoughts of a child, or anything else in the world. He seriously wondered how she would handle the news, she would probably die. Who else did she have?  
  
Draco stepped into the house, trailing in dirt.  
  
"Pansy, I'm home!" and what kind of a name was Pansy, anyway? He needed a girl with a much bigger name. A much more, superior sounding name. Draco and Pansy didn't sound good, Draco and Hermione would sound good, but she was taken and he hated that filthy mudblood anyway.  
  
"Oh darling! I've been waiting for you all day," she said and greeted her husband with a hug. "it's been so dull around here lately, with you off at work or with Blaise."  
  
"Well, it might get a little more dull." Draco decided now was the time to initiate. If he didn't now, he wouldn't be able to later.  
  
"Why's that?" Pansy asked, smiling. Obviously, she thought he was about to say the punch line of some ridiculous joke that he had concocted. Draco began to feel real pity for her now.  
  
"I'm leaving you, Pansy."  
  
Her face was priceless. It showed no emotion at all, it was completely blank. Her arms were folded, as if she were a teacher hearing that her student had just forgotten to do his homework. She didn't want to believe what Draco had just said. She didn't want to let go of all that she had thought she had put together.  
  
"W-what?" she could barely get the words out. It was much to unbelievable.  
  
"I'm leaving you, you have one day to get all of your things packed, and then, you can find a different home. I guess you are more of leaving me, huh?" he grinned with this last remark and entered the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and found nothing to eat. Pansy followed him in there, she wanted answers to a million questions that had crossed her mind.  
  
"Why?" she seemed only to be able to say one word at a time.  
  
"You know this relationship is over, it was over before it started, you, you just aren't,"  
  
"Good enough for you?"  
  
"In so many words, yes." Draco found an apple and took it from the bottom of the refrigerator. He took a big bite out of it, as if he were mocking Pansy. She couldn't stand the disgusting sight of him, taunting her.  
  
"You mean, all of this, this whole marriage, has been a lie?"  
  
"Well, I needed someone to follow me and do my bidding for a while," he was just mocking her now. Pansy had been no more than a joke to him. "and you know, it is nice to have a woman love you so much and give you everything without you having to even ask her."  
  
Pansy glared at him. She imagined him impaled on a giant metal spear, and tried to make that image come to life. Unfortunately, all she saw was Draco Malfoy, standing infront of her, taking another bite out of a bright green apple. She ran upstairs. She didn't want one day to pack, she wanted to leave, now.  
  
"Oh please, Pansy, don't leave tonight," Draco followed her upstairs. He found her taking her clothes out of the dresser and wardrobe. He pinned her to the wall, "just give me one more night of you." he kissed her neck as he had done so many times before. Pansy didn't deny that she loved the feeling of his soft lips on her pale skin, but she pushed him away. She didn't want him, so meaningless.  
  
"Get away from me, you, you.." she couldn't find an insult. Draco laughed at this. "You are such a disgrace!" Pansy screamed at him. Draco's face went blank. "You, you can't even live up to your father's expectation! He died for the Dark Lord! What did you do? You were a benefactor, you were nothing!"  
  
"And you were something?" Draco retaliated. "You were right along with me!"  
  
"No I wasn't! I went through the trials, I faced the Wizengamot, I was faced with the threat of Azkaban while you never left your throne!" tears fell down her face. "I should've gone to Azkaban! Even that would be better than here. At least your father was able to keep his wife."  
  
"He never loved her." Draco said morosely. He dropped his arms to his sides, he tried to look pitiful to Pansy, who would take mercy on him, who would feel for him, but she didn't this time.  
  
"But he still managed to stay with her!" she threw the last of her clothes into her black trunk and began to drag it downstairs. The clunks it made from going down each step was sure to wake the entire population of Britain, but she didn't care. Draco didn't bother to chase after her anymore. 


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry for when I first posted this, I didn't bother to check the format of it, so it was just one big paragraph. Hope this is better!_

Draco had no trouble sleeping that night. It was a dreamless sleep, a peaceful sleep, one he hadn't had in a long time. When he woke up, there were only traces of Pansy leaving, and no Pansy. Draco realized the freedom he had now, to not be tied down by a woman. He celebrated by pouring himself a glass of orange juice and sitting at the kitchen table to read the Daily Prophet, which had been dropped off only minutes before he came downstairs

"Nothing interesting," he said to himself and took another sip of his drink. He cast the paper aside and looked for something to eat in the cupboards and refridgerator. "Nothing to eat." he mumbled to himself, and nearly slammed the refridgerator door shut.

He went to the door and grabbed his coat from the coat rack beside the door, put it on, and left. He was late for meeting Blaise, anyway.

Pansy, however, didn't know where she was to go after she had left the manor. All of her belongings were in one suitcase, and she was standing out in the open, cold and alone. She couldn't think of anybody that would take her in for the night, or maybe longer, that was still in town.

She wanted Millicent to be home, desperately, so she could go there, but Millicent wasn't home, and she was stuck. Then a thought came into her mind that she nearly pushed away as soon as it had come. Hermione Weasley's house.

The girl was sure to accept her, maybe not Ron, but Hermione would. She cared enough about Pansy to let her stay for the night, it would work, there would be no ties, all she would have to do is stay there, thank them, and then go find a flat or something.

She still had access to the Malfoy vault, because, well, she was still a Malfoy. Pansy had decided. With a loud CRACK, she appeared from stranded to the doorway of the Weasley's home, which was just as nice as the Malfoy's, if only a bit smaller.

She was hesitant to knock, she didn't want to wake anyone up, but what was worse? Them being woken up, or her being stranded for the night? Open to predators? While Pansy kept telling herself why she was the victim, she raised her arm and knocked twice.

There was no answer. She waited for a while. Five minutes passed. No answer. She knocked again. Someone was heading downstairs, then opening the door. It opened to reveal Ron Weasley, who didn't look very happy to be woken up. Hermione stood only a few feet behind him.

"Yeah?" he said rudely.

"I'm so sorry to intrude," she really wasn't, but hey, this is Pansy, "but, Draco, he," she paused for a moment, "he kicked me out of the manor, and I don't have anywhere to go, and I was wondering if you would mind letting me stay for the night?"

This is when Hermione intruded. She pushed a half-asleep Ron to the side and embraced Pansy, "Come on then! Get out of the cold!" she lead her inside, and Ron took her trunk. "We have a guest room upstairs," she said, leading Pansy up the long stairway and to a beautiful, and comfortable, room.

Ron set her trunk inside the guest room and said: "I'm going back to bed." he dragged his feet the whole way back to their bedroom, and the two women could hear him fall onto the bed with a soft 'thump'.

"Hermione, thanks for all of this," Pansy thought it best to thank her, it was only polite. "Oh, it's nothing at all." she said, straightening out the bedsheets. "I promise I'll only stay for the night, as not to bother you and Ron." Pansy reassured her.

"Oh, you don't bother Ron, he's just tired right now, it's really Draco that annoys him." they both sat on the bed. Pansy found it good that she had someone to talk to, maybe she should tell Hermione the whole story.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Hermione said before Pansy could begin, "but what happened at the manor?"

Pansy told Hermione everything, from when Draco said that he wanted children, to when he left, which had only been a day later. Hermione showed concern on her face, and it wasnt the fake concern that Pansy usually got, it was real concern for her and her situation.

"You can stay here as long as you want." Hermione said, giving Pansy a much needed hug. And Pansy decided she might take Hermione up on that offer.


	8. Chapter 8

Draco had spent the last three nights with Blaise at the Three Broomsticks. He regretted nothing, and seemed to even have forgotten who Pansy Parkinson was (which was caused by his excessive drinking), and found a new woman to lure into his manor every night. The issue at hand was that he was still the legal husband of Pansy, who could possibly be carrying his child.  
  
"Draco, you're a mess." Blaise said, sitting on the stool next to him. "Maybe you should just go home."  
  
"I'm fine." Draco slurred.  
  
"Not by the sound of your voice," there was a genuine concern coming from Blaise's lips, "come on, take the night off. I'll help you home."  
  
"Oh no you won't!" Draco protested and slapped away Blaise's hand, which had been reaching for Draco's arm to take him out of the bar. "I'm fine! Leave me be." Blaise took Draco's advice, ordered a final drink, and left without saying another word to the pale man, who sat alone at the bar.  
  
"Hello, Draco." said a soft voice. Draco turned to his left and saw a slender pair of smooth legs. He gradually looked up and saw an unfamiliar face with brown hair and sharp blue eyes. She ordered a butter beer and turned back to Draco who had his head down on the bar table. She grinned.  
  
"Haven't seen you in ages. What has it been, six years?"  
  
"Who are you?" Draco said in annoyance.  
  
"You don't remember me? Violet. Violet Coreman."  
  
"I don't remember you."  
  
"I was a year above you at Hogwarts. We were both in Slytherin, though I wouldn't expect you to remember me, you were so wrapped up with yourself." she took a sip of her butter beer. "And how are things going with you? Not well, by the looks of it."  
  
"For your information," Draco said in defense of his atrocious state, "things are going extremely well for me."  
  
"Ah ha." she raised her eyebrows and took another sip.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Oh, nothing." she said sweetly, and took a rather large gulp from her drink this time.  
  
"Why are you even talking to me?"  
  
"You were sitting alone."  
  
The conversation carried on like this for hours, until finally, the bartender (Madame Rosmerta), made the two leave. Draco mumbled curses under his breath while Violet calmly grabbed her handbag, paid Madame Rosmerta her money, and followed Draco out. The night was cold, and Violet had only but a light jacket to keep her remotely warm.  
  
"Where are you staying?" Draco asked, reluctantly.  
  
"No where, really. My husband just kicked me out. Said he needed time to think over our relationship. He's really seeing some other girl, don't know who she is, though. Been trying to find out these past few weeks."  
  
"Would you like a home? Or just a place, for the night, anyway." Draco offered. If Violet had been any less attractive he probably wouldn't have offered.  
  
"That would be nice." 


End file.
